サバンナのツアー&アクティビティ

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the hop-on-hop-off trolley through the Historic District, 2) a candlelit ghost walking tour, 3) a guided history walk through the squares, 4) a First Squares or Southern Flavors food tour, 5) Bonaventure Cemetery, 6) a riverboat sightseeing or dinner cruise, 7) Forsyth Park and its fountain, 8) the Ghosts and Gravestones trolley, 9) Wormsloe State Historic Site’s oak avenue and 10) Tybee Island’s beach and lighthouse.

Plan two to three days. Day one: a trolley loop or walking tour, the squares, Forsyth Park, lunch near City Market, River Street and a ghost tour after dark. Day two: Bonaventure Cemetery in the morning, Wormsloe or the Georgia State Railroad Museum, a riverboat cruise and a food tour. Day three: Tybee Island, 20 minutes away, for the beach, lighthouse and Fort Pulaski.

Walk the squares — Chippewa, Madison, Monterey and Lafayette are the prettiest — and Forsyth Park, stroll Jones Street and River Street, visit Bonaventure Cemetery and Colonial Park Cemetery, step into the Cathedral Basilica, browse City Market and the Plant Riverside District, ride the free ferry to Hutchinson Island for the skyline view and take the free DOT shuttle around downtown. The beach at Tybee is free apart from parking.

Tybee Island (20 minutes) for the beach, lighthouse and dolphin cruises; Fort Pulaski and Wormsloe on the way; Hilton Head Island (45 minutes); Beaufort, South Carolina and Hunting Island beach (one hour); Jekyll Island and St. Simons on the Golden Isles (90 minutes); and Charleston (two hours). Tybee beach-day tours with transport from Savannah cost about $110.

Ghost tours are the signature — candlelit walks, the Ghosts and Gravestones trolley, ghost hunts and true-crime pub crawls all leave around dusk. Then drinks on River Street or at the rooftop bars of the Plant Riverside District, live music at City Market, a show at the Savannah Theatre or a dinner cruise on the river. Savannah allows open containers downtown, so a to-go cup is part of the experience.

Winter is mild (highs around 60°F) and the squares are quietest. December brings the lights on Broughton Street, the Christmas market at Plant Riverside and the Boat Parade of Lights on the river; camellias bloom in the squares in January and azaleas start in late February. Trolley, ghost and food tours run year-round, and by mid-March the huge St. Patrick’s Day celebration takes over.

The trolley tour, the Georgia State Railroad Museum with its working turntable, Forsyth Park’s playground and fountain, the riverboat cruise, the Pirates’ House restaurant, Leopold’s Ice Cream, Oatland Island Wildlife Center, and at Tybee the Marine Science Center, the lighthouse climb and dolphin-watching boats. The gentler ghost tours suit older children.

March to May, when the azaleas bloom and the weather is warm and dry, and October to November. Mid-March is packed for St. Patrick’s Day. Summer is very hot and humid with afternoon storms; winter is mild, quiet and the cheapest time to come.

Yes — the Spanish-moss-draped cemetery on the Wilmington River, made famous by Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, is one of the most-reviewed experiences in Savannah. Entry is free, but a golf-cart or walking tour (about $38–48) finds the notable graves and stories you would otherwise walk past.